Tesla Motors Twitter Account and Website Hacked

Hackers have hijacked the TeslaMotors.com DNS records pointing to the server hosting the web page over the weekend. The cyber crooks have modified them to link the visitors to a computer that is under their control. The MX records have also been altered allowing the criminals full access to the incoming company emails, and the Twitter account of Elon Musk, Tesla Motors’ CEO.

Two Twitter Accounts Hijacked

Instead of hacking the company’s website the crooks attacked the registrar (Network Solutions) where the domain name records are hosted.

The company made the messages and images that were uploaded by the hackers available. The design was rather simple, featuring pictures of a Tesla car and some people. A message on the top of the page disclosed the attackers – “Autismsquad” and gave out two twitter accounts. One of them has been suspended; the other one seems to belong to a person who has no affiliation with the attack whatsoever. The user known as “r00t” tweeted that he has been threatened by the hackers.

The Attacks Wouldn’t Have Been Possible if 2FA Were Activated

The attackers changed the name of the company’s Twitter account to “#RIPRGANG” and delivered spam messages with fake free car offers to all of the followers (over 550,000).

Experts assure that the hijack could have been prevented if the 2FA (two-factor authentication) were turned on.

The access to the incoming emails allowed the crooks to start the “lost password” procedure for the Twitter assets.

At the moment of this writing, the official TeslaMotors.com website and both hijacked Twitter accounts are back in the hands of their rightful owners.